


Carnival of the Dead

by Yeetingmeselfintosun



Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU root - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, An actual military hierarchy, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Nara Shikamaru, Boruto is the cowards way out, Burns, Confused Nara Shikamaru, Conspiracy, Danzou is an asshole, Dark, Edo Tensei, Eldritch, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Gods, Guerrilla Warfare, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Konoha is not a nice place, Military, Nightmares, No Kaguya, No magic moon aliens, Not Really Character Death, Panic Attacks, Politics, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sedition, Shinobi, Spirits, Things get wack real fast, Time Travel, War, Worldbuilding, but it gets better!!, no beta we die like men, people die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2020-06-22 09:04:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19664194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yeetingmeselfintosun/pseuds/Yeetingmeselfintosun
Summary: Nara Shikamaru, Jounin Commander, was dead. Or at least he should be. Instead, Shikamaru woke up in a body too small for his brain.Or; Shikamaru saves the world, but only after he gets some therapy





	1. And the Shadows Push Back

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Can't Shake These Old Shadows (Gnawing at Your Insides)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15879153) by [KittyWillCutYou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyWillCutYou/pseuds/KittyWillCutYou). 



> Before beginning, please be aware that even before Shikamaru time traveled, this was NOT the canon timeline. Kaguya does not exist. Instead, Madara was revived by Obito and allied with Oto to improve upon Edo Tensei. He then incites war between the elemental nations (It's not a free for all, there are alliances) to give him a massive supply of dead people. He then takes over the world. (It's not really that simple, but anything else would be spoilers.) 
> 
> Also, actual military ranks and a military hierarchy exist in this universe because I say so. I probably won't update regularly, but I'll try my best! This is my first fic, so constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> I don't own Naruto. If I did, it wouldn't exist because I would have procrastinated writing it.

_ The puppets wearing my fallen comrades’ faces are not my comrades! _ Shikamaru told himself again.  _ Why do I hesitate when they are simply corpses with faces, cracked facades of the people they once were _ . He hoped there was nothing left of them in there.  _ This should be easy and routine by now, but yet…  _

Shikamaru paused for a moment, looking at the sky. It was smoggy grey.  _ I wish there were clouds. In another life, I would be watching them without care.  _

Shikamaru was shaken out of his musing by burning pain in his arm. Lightning fast, he turned around and slit the throat of yet another one of his former allies. _ Fuck! I let my guard down. I really have been slipping lately. Does it really matter? Every single one of my troops was killed whats felt like years ago, and the Hokage was cut down long before that. It seems as if the fabled Will of Fire burnt out with the village.  _

Shikamaru let out a strangled sound, something that was not quite a laugh.  _ Troublesome. _

He turned his attention back to the fight.  _ None are, no,  _ were,  _ Konoha nin. Lucky me.  _ He cut them down with a  _ tantō  _ he had scavenged off a body , one after the other, face blank and smeared with ash and blood.  _ The Jounin Commander of Konoha, reduced to this. A scavenger losing against puppets of flesh.  _

There were more of the puppets now, Shikamaru tried to fend off the hoard, but he hadn't had food for over a week now, and was fighting with a close range weapon.  _ If I use chakra, I run the risk of alerting Madara to my position, but if this goes on any longer, then I have no choice. _

__ Shikamaru heard the roaring of a fire jutsu and rolled into a trench, which seemed to have been created for cover, the evidence that the war had once been fought army versus army, not by way of guerilla warfare.  _ Back when I had comrades and troops to fight alongside with.  _ He still felt the heat from the fire above, but when the onslaught of flames abated, he peeked over the wall. Shikamaru’s heart dropped. 

_ I’m going to die here. There are too many to fight hand to hand, and even if I use a jutsu to take them down, an even deadlier enemy will find me.  _ Shikamaru’s mind was frantic, trying to find a solution. He peeked over the wall again and immediately regretted doing so.  _ I recognize those faces. Chouji. Kakashi. Tenzo.GaaraShinoIbikiKankuroTEMARI. _

Shikamaru snarled wordlessly, perhaps in some futile attempt at summoning the might of his dead comrades, and then fell silent. They were approaching, and he felt an eerie sense of calm settle over himself.  _ I don’t care anymore. I’m going to die anyways, so why don’t I take Madara with me. A flare of chakra should get him here and then… well, father always told me not to get consumed by the shadows. _

Shikamaru closed his eyes and flared his chakra.  _ In the end, I will have the last laugh.  _ He smiled a twisted smirk.  _ My friends’ spirits will be put to rest, and all of this will stop. _

A voice spoke from behind him, “So you’ve finally accepted your fate, little Nara.”

Shikamaru confessed, eyes dark, “I suppose I have. My troops are gone, and so are my loved ones. Before you kill me, could I ask you one question, Madara?”

“Why should I allow you such a luxury?”

“Because I want to know why you did this. Why kill them all? You had no reason to do so that I know of. It’s not logical.”

“So you want to find some reason for their deaths? Something to blame it on? You’re in denial. How childish.”

“Am I the one in denial? After all, you are the one not answering my question. I’ll ask you again, what is your motive? Your justification for this… for lack of a better word, genocide?”

Madara laughed, “Genocide? I wouldn’t call it that. Think of it as… _ enlightenment _ .”

“ Answer the question.”

“Fine,  _ little Nara, _ ” He answered mockingly, “ I did it because I wanted peace for-”

Shikamaru interrupted, his eyes a little too dark to be natural, “ _ You!  _ Wanting  _ peace!  _ You started a goddamn war! How is that peace!”

“The entire shinobi system is the problem! You and your armies were in the way of progress, of  _ peace _ , so you had to be eliminated from the equation.”

“How delusional are you? Are you so idealistic to think that civilians and innocents wouldn't be caught in the crossfire!” He began to gather more chakra.

Madara replied, “Those deaths were caused by you and your forces, not mine! If you simply had submitted-” Madara was cut off.

“Ȩ̶̛͇͉̤̯͎̻̠̭̹̳̟̜̰̉͑́́͋͜͝ņ̶̛͓̤͓̼̺̣̻́̔́̌̊̑͗̈̄̋̎̍̏Ơ̶̙̏̋͌̅̈͐̕U̶̡̨̻͖̦͔̝͚͇͒ͅͅg̵̢͖̤̝̼͇̦̥̦̏̂́͊̏̉̓͑͋̊͒̕H̷̳͖̔͌̐ͅ” Shikamaru entoned with fury. His were black pools that seemed to be dripping, melting.  _ The shadows are screaming, the dead are screaming, and now I am screaming. The shadows will be fed.  _

By now, Madara sensed there was something wrong. Extremely wrong. He tried to take a step back, but he could not move. He looked around, and all he could see was darkness. “ What have you done!”

“ I am exacting my V̵̡̡̗̣̻̑̍͐̍͋̈́̍̕͝e̷̢̡̢̨̺͚͔̰͈͎̰̮̮͆̃͌͜͠ͅņ̷̤͚̰̲̘̯̬̭̔̉̽̾͒͌̓̾̌̆͆͊̌́̕G̴̨̡̨̘̤̠̺̠̰̰̭̊̽̌̊͆͛̈́̓̔̈̏̊̉̈́͆ȩ̴̣͌̀̓̈́̚͜͠Ą̶̱̮̝̜̱̱͖̮̺̝̌̾̔͌͋̑̀͛͒̀̾͂͂̚N̶̛̙̮̺̹̮̈̊̃̅̀̓͒́C̴̢̰̗̟̠̳͚̮̐͐́̃̏̕͜E̴̡̢̨̗̫͓͚̣̯͎͔̗̊̊̀̽̽͊͐͗̓͠” Shikamaru, no, the shadows spoke.  _ I did not speak, but they are right. This is my revenge. For all of the fallen puppets on strings with broken glass eyes. The voices are almost unbearable. With all my intelligence, I never truly knew what my father meant about not letting the shadows consume you. I understand now. I wish I didn’t.  _

Shikamaru closed his eyes and offered the shadows full control.  _ Resisting them is futile and troublesome. Might as well just let them win, after all, I asked for this. _

As he fell into unconsciousness, he felt a push at his chakra. The last thing he thought before everything went black was,  _ My body is not mine anymore. It is the shadows’ now.  _

  
  



	2. Body Too Small

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Local man gets yeeted into the past and has a small mental breakdown, more at 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, I’ve had a lot going on, and I was at a pre-collegiate program so. Yeah.

He woke up.  _ What.  _ Shikamaru tried to stand up, and fell.  _ I’m on a bed? I wasn’t aware that there were any surviving strongholds against Madara.  _ His eyes darted around the room, slowly widening.  _ This… this was my room. Back in Konoha.  _ He scrambled off the bed and looked out the window.  _ Is this a Genjutsu?  _ He pinched himself.  _ Not a Genjutsu. Well, one that I can break, anyways, and I can break almost all Genjutsus.  _

Shikamaru attempted to walk back to his bed, but something felt off. He gazed at his hands, deep in thought.  _ Wait. My hands. They are too small. My body is too small. Well then.  _

“Shikamaru! Time for breakfast!”

Shikamaru tried to say something, but nothing came out.  _ Kaa-san.  _ He saw her burn. He swallowed and yelled back “Coming!” 

For the next five minutes, Shikamaru attempted to get clothes on and look presentable.  _ Deep breaths, in and out. My name is Shikamaru, and I am trapped in a child’s body. I know how the world ends… and there are too many variables. In and out. In. Out. In. Out. Unknown factors. All I can do is minimize the damage. The closest major event are the Chuunin exams. I am not in control. In. Out. I am a small child now. I have no control. _

Shikamaru stood up, took one last deep breath, and walked to the dining room.  _ Do not think of the funeral pyres that have not been created. In. Out. _

His mother and father sat at the table, and he sat down alongside them. They ate in a peaceful, almost sleepy silence for a moment.  _ In. Out.  _ He was glad.

“Shikamaru, honey, today is almost graduation day. I know that if you wanted to and actually applied yourself, you could bump your grades up much higher than they are now. Right now, everything about you looks average. Just try, maybe only for a single day? For me?”

Shikamaru sighed, “Troublesome. It won’t make much of a difference anyways. But… only for you, kaa-san.”

“Now, it is almost time for school, so why don’t you get packed up while your father and I finish breakfast!”

Shikamaru could not have ran faster. He hurried into his room and slammed the door shut.  _ To keep out the ghosts, I suppose. Think. Think! Assets: My jutsu arsenal, my knowledge of the future, and my most likely shot to shit chakra control.  _

Shikamaru’s eyes widened. 

_ Wait a second. Chakra is made up of physical and spiritual chakra, yin and yang, which in most cases are in equal amounts in the body. I know it’s possible to have great chakra control with unbalanced chakra, but that applies to people who have used it imbalanced for years! I know the concept of balancing it via concentration and control, but in practice? If I slip up, a simple jutsu could cause an explosion. Shit. _

He screwed his eyes shut, and tried not to scream.  _ In. Out. In. Out. Reevaluate assets. Knowledge of the future.  _ Shikamaru’s eyes opened again.  _ Starting at square one again. This is going to be troublesome. _

His mother yelled, _ “ _ Shikamaru! It’s time for school! If you don’t get down here, you are going to be late!”

Shikamaru began stuffing his school bag with supplies while yelling back to his mother, “Coming kaa-san!”

He ran out the door as fast as he could, feet thudding on the packed earth, and looked around.  _ I forgot. I forgot about the little shops squeezed in between buildings, the laughter of children who look the same age as me, the golden glow of the sunlight on the Hokage Monument. Three faces he had seen before, in death.  _

He began humming to himself, deep in thought. _ I have only seen one of those faces on someone who was truly alive.  _

Shikamaru shook himself from his thoughts and looked around. He was at the Academy.  _ In. Out.  _ He readied himself for interacting with people who were once, in his mind, dead.  _ Might as well get it over with.  _

He walked through the door, and promptly ran into someone.  _ Just my luck.  _ Shikamaru looked at the person’s face and froze. Iruka.  _ Calm down. Calm down. CALM DOWN. Don’t ruin this for yourself. Don’t ruin this for them. Don’t fail them again. You are already failing, don’t make this worse. You are Shikamaru, age 12, a pre-genin who has not suffered from any form of mental illness. That is who you are now. Do NOT fail. _

“Hello Iruka-Sensei, I apologize for running into you,” Shikamaru explained hastily, “It won’t happen again, I promise.”

“Don’t worry about it, it was just an accident! On another note, why are you here early?” Iruka backtracked, “ Not that I’m complaining about it, it is nice to see you even slightly motivated to learn.”

_ Shit. Ummmm…  _ “ Kaa-san wanted me to improve my grades before graduation. Troublesome.”  _ I think that’ll get him off my case. Please just go away now. _

Iruka must’ve seen something on Shikamaru’s face, because he started walking to the classroom as he bid farewell “ See you in class Shikamaru! ”

Shikamaru didn’t bother to reply. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you rather have short chapters that come out faster or long chapters that come out slower? Please let me know in the comments below


	3. The Hokage is Dead (Long Live the Hokage)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Local man has been through shit, more at 8.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I can’t post consistently, but I tried to flesh out a bit of the bad future that Shady Boi came from.

As he entered the classroom, he saw people he recognized, but was surprised to see faces he did not remember. _They either never graduated or were cannon fodder. They are- no-_ were _dead even before the war got bad._

But they were the least of Shikamaru’s problems. _Pink hair. Sakura._ He closed his eyes, and breathed out. _In, out, in, out. Keep it together._

Shikamaru schooled his face into a bored expression. “Good morning Sakura”

“Morning, Shikamaru!” Sakura replied, “Say, why are you so early today? You are normally here just in time for the bell, but never earlier.”

“My Kaa-San wants me to put more effort into my school work, but you now how that’ll turn out. It is all rather troublesome.” As he spoke, Shikamaru felt the urge to vomit.

Before Sakura could reply, another voice chimed in, “Hey! Lazy pants is here on time!” It was Ino.

_No.no.nonono! This is not the time. You will fail them_ all _if you don’t keep yourself under control. You failed them once, don’t fail them again. In. Out._ Shikamaru swallowed, trying to keep himself from throwing up.

“What gives?” Ino continued.

“My Kaa-San. Why does it matter to you? ” _There. Conversation over. Go away._

“Why are you so rude?” Ino retorted.

“Troublesome.” _In. Out. In. Out. In out in outinout._ His vision began to distort as he rushed to his desk, disregarding all else. _I can’t breathe._ His throat was closed up. _I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe. They’ve dropped a gas tag again haven’t they. Why weren’t the gas seals working? Why can’t I breathe? Stop. You are having a panic attack. You are a twelve year old pre-genin. You have never seen active duty. You are perfectly fine. Don’t fail them again. You are fine._

“Hello class!” Iruka exclaimed.

The class responded with markedly less enthusiasm, “Hello Iruka-sensei.” 

“Now, today we will be cov-“ 

“Hello Iruka-Sensei!” Naruto shouted as he barged into the room.

“As I was _saying ,_ we will be covering basic seals today, including explosive tags.” 

As Iruka started the lecture, Shikamaru couldn’t have been more distracted as he felt Naruto’s chakra for the first time in what seemed like eons. _In. Out. In. Out in outinoutinout. The sky is bleeding with acidic chakra and my lungs are burning. A human weapon is only controllable if it is human and this, this_ thing _is not. Follow protocol. The Hokage is dead. Long live the Hokage. Protocol S9-Fu. Biji (power level 9) is under control of unknown Sharingan user. The container, Uzumaki Naruto, is deceased. Evacuate civilians from town and surrounding area. There are none left to save. You faILEd. DoN’T fAil them AgAiN. In.outin._

_Only those with active chakra networks have the strength to survive corrosive chakra. Under wartime protocol 12W-a , all persons with active chakra networks over the age are trained Shinobi. Their bodies are failing underneath their waxy skin. The pain is unimaginable. After all the good we did. Burns. Peeling flesh. Failing cells. Regroup. Asses. Jounin Commander Shikamaru, you have full authority. You are in control. You haV e FuL l cOntrol. You have no control. BrEath. Your lungs are burning._

_Squads 8,9, and 11, sweep area. Squad 10, return to Konoha immediately. Head of Special Operations, operative code HK- mH/ a31/ sM- 009720, is to be the next Hokage. Information control concerning said operative is temporarily disabled up to category S5 information. RePlaCeMenT. The show must go on._

_Inform him that this is an attack by an unknown enemy, but that Advisor Shimura Danzo (000272) is to be investigated. Before the attack by Biju (power level 9) target: MN/S- Oro (002300) had been terminated and his brain probed by Yamanaka specialists. Shimura Danzo had been in contact with the target. Twenty five (25) variant M sharingan were exchanged along with Hashirama cells. The root of the village is rotten. There are seals on their tongues. Rotten. RoTTeN. The Hokage is dead, long live the Hokage. Inoutinout. In. Out. In._

“Shikamaru! Pay attention!” Iruka scolded.

He did not reply. _LoNG liVe the HoKage. Out._

Iruka spoke again, this time sounding worried, “Shikamaru, are you alright?”

At last, Shikamaru lied, “I’m fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I treated the biju’s corrosive chakra as if it was radiation, so acute radiation sickness galore. Also, all ninja registration numbers are canon, but their operative codes are not.
> 
> Please write comments, no matter how short they are cause they are all that motivates me.


	4. Some Say the World Will End in Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shikamaru really doesn’t know what he’s getting into, but he’s getting into something big. Vanishing children, ANBU running missions while they’re supposed to be off duty, and a suicide that is not a suicide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y’all, here’s a new chapter, but there more on the way. My boi is gonna get real confused real quick in a few chapters

The rest of the school day went rather smoothly compared to the events of the morning, but Shikamaru didn’t want to be in the building any longer than required.  _ I suppose it’s not the building itself, but the memories. The people. While tou-san and kaa-san are at home, nobody else is. That’s better than nothing. _

On his walk home, again he marveled at the sheer life there was to Konoha.  _ This is what I’m fighting for. This idea of a perfect Konoha. _ That last thought in and of itself was an oxymoron. 

_ Not the village exactly as it is at the moment, but… in the future. After all, the roots of the tree are rotten. I do hope we can prune them without killing the tree. _

Shikamaru was shaken out of his thoughts as he saw the Nara clan compound coming into view. He rushed through the group of houses and other buildings to his home as fast as he could.  _ I need to make a plan of attack. _ He side stepped one of his many cousins, and he was in. As Shikamaru removed his shoes and placed them carefully in a row next to his father’s and mothers, he heard his mother greet him.

“Shikamaru! How was the Academy today? Did you remember what I asked you?”

“ The day went fine, we got to work with explosive tags, but making them was so troublesome. I did make one though. Doesn’t that count as improvement?”

Yoshino sighed, “ I suppose that that does count as improvement, so I can’t complain, but please just try to put a little more effort into it.”

“Yes Kaa-san” Shikamaru rushed past her as he made a beeline for his room.

Once he got in, he closed the sliding doors and put down his bag. He grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen and brought them to his desk. Shikamaru drew two columns, and labeled them with ‘first’ and ‘second’.  _ Okay. The closest major event that I can think of is graduation, and there’s nothing bad that came out of that. The only things that I could possibly change are the team assignments, and that has no use. I landed here after both the Kumo-Hyuuga incident and the Uchiha Massacre.  _

Shikamaru wrote down the two events in both columns along with Academy graduation.  _ Now, a possible change that I could make is either getting my team the wave mission that Naruto mentioned or convincing the Sandaime that both teams should do the mission. Zabuza could be instrumental in speeding up the Revolution in Kiri. A possible roadblock could be that he doesn’t free Kiri, even with Terumi Mei on his side. No, messing with the wave mission was too unpredictable and risky. _

He added the wave mission to both columns.  _ So really, I should wait till the Chunnin exams to change anything. If I can manage to reveal Orochimaru’s disguise as the Kazekage, that could improve Suna-Konoha relations along with saving the Sandaime. Killing Kabuto during the second trial should root out the mole in Konoha’s ranks, but I have to be careful. The chakra cards have to survive the fight, and his head has to be intact and be kept in stasis. I have to make the Yamanaka’s job easy and also expose a connection between ROOT and Orochimaru. All Oto-non in the exams should also be taken out, with either non lethal means or leaving the heads. _

Shikamaru huffed. Troublesome.  _ T&I will have an absolute field day after this. All of these objectives are secondary, however. Primary objective is to prevent Sasuke from getting the Cursed Seal. If Madara could turn him like he did last time, the blow would be devastating. The Cursed Seal was the inciting event for his spiral down into infamy. I have to stop it. I can not eliminate the to-be-traitor yet. Naruto would be devastated. I can’t fail him. I can’t fail them. Anymore than I already have anyways. In. Out. Focus.  _

He breathed, letting the crisp clean air fill his lungs. The omnipresent smell of something rotting and burning had gone.  _ A new start.  _

Shikamaru got back to planning, somehow feeling slightly lighter than before as he wrote down the original timeline and the timeline to-be. He created a world out of ink, a world of wishes and determination.  _ I will not fail them. Konoha will not burn, the dead will not rise like puppets with invisible strings, and Madara will pay for his crimes. Even if I die with him. But first I have to start small, and work my way up the food chain. Orochimaru, ROOT, Danzō, The Akatsuki, Pein, and only after I get rid of his puppets, then can I defeat Madara.  _

Shikamaru finished the timeline of events and changes, rolled it up, and sealed it with a security seal designed by Naruto. He then promptly hid it under one of the floorboards in his room. As he drew his gaze to the window, he was shocked to see that it was night outside. The lights of the village were fireflies in the night, twinkling and beautiful and alive. The night sky dripped like oil into the village as some of the village went to sleep and the fireflies died, one by one. 

But a Shinobi village never truly sleeps, and as Shikamaru turned his eyes to the Shinobi housing district, he could see little blurs of movement as the protectors of the village traveled by rooftop. He trained his eyes on the apartment building that was the cover for ANBU headquarters, and the blurs became faster and more frequent, flashes of bone white, blood red, and dull steel. Anyone without the level of training Shikamaru had undergone would not have spotted them. 

_ I wonder how many of the ANBU are ROOT operatives. So many children have disappeared over the past couple of years, but there is no telling the exact numbers of ROOT forces under Danzō’s command. This is something I may want to look into. If I can figure out who was taken, when they were taken, and what happened to them, that could blow the lid on Danzō’s operations without me having to get directly involved. By delivering the information to the right people... this could be big. _ Shikamaru furrowed his brow, deep in thought. 

_ There were inconsistencies within the village records, specifically concerning Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Itachi, and Hatake Kakashi. Kakashi mentioned that when he was in ANBU, Itachi was under his command. Both were put on ‘reserves’ for some time directly after the Yondaime’s death. However, Kakashi mentioned that he ran ‘mission after mission’ in the aftermath of the attack. If Kakashi ran missions under ROOT during that time, then it’s possible Itachi was in contact with Danzō as well.  _

_ That has... nasty implications. Troublesome. I would ask someone close to Itachi, but Sasuke won’t talk, and it would be suspicious of me to talk to Kakashi, especially since he has never publicly associated with Itachi. Itachi is a traitor, a murderer, a kin-killer, and a mad-man. For obvious reasons, I cannot speak with him. They never found Shisui’s body, they only had Itachi’s word that he committed suicide. Of course, nobody except Itachi’s family believed that. What if neither is the truth. It’s probable that he was killed by someone else. Someone who was either more powerful or faster than him.  _

_ Or... Shisui was overwhelmed. And the enemy was in the village. Shisui had an active Sharingan. Itachi was most likely in contact with ROOT. _ Shikamaru’s eyes widened.  _ The roots of the tree are rotten and soaked in blood. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments keep me alive and give me validation, please comment


	5. Till on the haunting flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shikamaru is scheming, not knowing what’s headed for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoooo buddy next chapter’s gonna be a doozy

_Kusa is on fire. Their oceans of grass are burning. No village has claimed responsibility. The rain is ash, clogging my lungs. I can’t breathe. Konoha is at war with an invisible enemy. Not Kumo, nor Kiri, nor Iwa. Even with this much flammable material... the jutsu used would have had to been stronger than any other fire jutsu on record. By many orders of magnitude. Multiple people couldn’t have done this. They would have burned each other to death in the process._

_Shadows engulf everything, warping the scene. There is no escape. The capital is on fire. Ironic, given that it is the capital of the Land of Fire. Why is it always fire? Burning and burning, it scorches the earth near our outpost. After the capital burned, it was poison. It makes sense. An army of the dead does not need to breathe, therefore the poison does not reach their lungs. Long live the Hokage. The eyes are red, bleeding and spinning and spinning and spinning. Black flowers in a sea of blood._

_Asuma is here. I tried to stab him. It worked but he is still standing. He has become what he died against, an unkillable being. ANBU is at my command. The trenches stink all the same, a strange mix of chemicals and burnt flesh. The medics can’t keep up. Burn the dead. Burn them. Why is it always burning? Space time is in technicolor shards and yet the eyes still follow. Red and spinning. He wakes up._

“Shikamaru! Time for school!”

Shikamaru jolts awake, but he does not scream. There is nothing left to scream about.

“Coming Kaa-san!” 

He shoved a book in his bag, and was about to put another one in when something grabbed his attention. The calendar. _Today’s date is circled. It’s graduation day. After this, I can’t avoid Ino and Chouji, and... Asuma. In.Out.In. out... I guess I’ll just have to get used to it. Troublesome._ Shikamaru walked into the dining room to grab a bite to eat, and saw his mother and father at the table. Joining them at the table, he noticed that his father was extremely quiet. He seemed to be concentrating on something, like he was trying to solve a hard puzzle. 

The rest of the breakfast went by with little fanfare. The next thing Shikamaru knew, he was out the door and on his way to the Academy for what was hopefully his last day in the building. As he was walking, someone bumped into him. He looked to see who had done it, and promptly froze. It was Naruto. 

“Hello Shikamaru!”

Shikamaru hesitated for the slightest of moments, and replied with a slight tremble in his voice, “M-maa maa Naruto, what are you going to the Academy so early for? You normally show up late to class.”

“The Hokage would never have been late to his graduation, dattebayo!” Naruto’s grinned at Shikamaru, smile reaching his eyes.

He grinned back. His smile did not reach his eyes. “True, after all, the Hokage must always be punctual.”

“Well, it was nice seeing you Shika, but I gotta run! Bye!”

“Bye.” As he uttered that word, Shikamaru let go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding. _Long live the Hokage. Now, onto more important matters: the Danzō situation. I know he has been kidnapping children, but obtaining absolute proof of his deeds, short of finding the children and presenting them to the Hokage will be difficult to say the least._

_There must be a paper trail. I know for a fact that all ROOT agents were entered into the ANBU system at some point in their training for espionage purposes, and I know the exact way that the paperwork is filled out and entered into the system. It does not include names, but it does include a code connected to their sponsor, their mask, and their squad codes. Danzō isn’t stupid enough to put his name on the file, and will most likely use a proxy code._

_The thing about proxy codes is the fact that there are very few in the system at any given time, so Danzō would have had to use the same one for all ROOT operatives. I then only have to compare the dates to their kidnappings along with cross defending heights and descriptions, and I know which kids are underneath the masks. I, say, knock one out and drop them on their clan’s doorstep, and the case is wide open. Now I only need to get to the S-rank part of the archives, and Danzō is dealt with. Tomorrow's the day._

Shikamaru looked up and saw the Academy building looming over him. He walked to his classroom, and was stopped by Iruka outside the door way.

“Shikamaru, may I speak with you for a minute? In private.”

“Of course Iruka-sensei.” Shikamaru moved out of the doorway and down the hallway to a more secluded part of the school. “What do you want to speak to me about?”

Iruka sighed, “I want to talk to you about your behavior yesterday. You were distracted during class, more so than normal, and you seemed pretty close to a mental breakdown. To be honest, I’m more than a little bit worried about your mental state at the moment.”

“I am fine.”

“I will lay off just this once. If this happens again, I must consider talking to your parents and your soon-to-be jounin sensei.”

“I understand, Iruka-sensei.” 

Both he and Iruka began to walk back to the class room in silence. When they arrived, all they heard was the silence of thirty-some anxious pre-teens. Shikamaru settled into his seat and listened to Iruka drone on about the contents of the test and their importance. The test arrived on his desk, and everything else was a blur. He was just going through the motions. Then, the practical. _Shit. Imbalanced chakra. I’ll have to work extra hard to balance it. A liability. Don’t fail them. Not this time. Not again, with porcelain faces and glassy eyes. In. Out. In. Out._

“Nara Shikamaru?”

“Coming sir.” Shikamaru drawled as he walked into the testing room. Mitsuki. Something was nagging him. _What was it?_ He shook his head. _It was probably nothing._

“Perform a Henge of myself.”

“Yes sir.”

He went through the hand signs. _Too quick for a academy student, but they’ll let it slide. I’m a Nara._ He inhaled, pushing in more physical energy than normal, and then, smoke. Perfect henge. _For an academy student, maybe even a Chunnin. Too slow. Liability._ Mitsuki marked something on his clipboard. _What was it with Mitsuki? Probably just my damaged psyche talking._

“Perform three consecutive Kawarimis with objects in the room.”

“Yes sir.”

_Deep breath in, hand seals. Balance chakra and... too slow. Liability._ He felt a gust of wind in his ears.

“Perfect. Now perform three Bushins.”

“Yes sir.”

_Shadow clones and bursts of smoke. Acrid chakra breaking down cells. Burns. The civilians are dead. In. Out. Focus. Hand signs, reign in chakra. Slow. Liability._

“Perfect! You passed with flying colors! Please retrieve your hitai-ate from Iruka-sensei.”

“Yes sir.”

The Hokage and Iruka began to make a speech to the graduates, but someone was missing. Naruto. Where was he? He couldn’t see his shock of blond hair anywhere in the crowd. _Threat._ His senses blared. _Too many ANBU._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, please comment. They give me life.


	6. Growing flowers out of bone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shika gets real confused, and Bear is having a rough day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? Me updating within a week? Impossible! It’s even shorter than usual tho. Oof.

Shikamaru quietly slipped out of the crowds as the sun began to set to go find Naruto.  _ Have I changed the future from just talking to him? What if I failed him again?  _ He sped up as he felt a pulse of chakra coming from the forest behind the Academy. Shikamaru stopped for a split second.  _ There’s blood on the ground. _ A shuriken wizzed past his ear, and he dove for cover behind a large tree.  _ An enemy in Konoha?  _ He didn’t have any more time for thinking.

He didn’t have many weapons on him, but he had a senbon in his hair. A thump and a squelch interrupted his plans. Shikamaru glanced around the tree, and saw Iruka bleeding over Naruto. Time slowed down.  _ No. Not here. I cannot let him die. Liability. Don’t fail them again. The Hokage is dead, long live the Hokage. Burns and the cloying scent of flesh in various states of decay. A blood stained robe. Civilians long gone. Naruto is Konoha’s hope, even if they don’t know it yet. I can’t let him die because of an invisible enemy, I can’t fail him again.  _

Shikamaru moved and time sped up again. He rushed towards the assailant, and threw the senbon. It buried itself in the enemy’s eye, and while he was disoriented, Shikamaru cleanly snapped his neck. For the first time, Shikamaru saw the man’s face. It was Mizuki.  _ Shit. He didn’t die before, did he. Why was he here anyways, attacking Naruto? And... why does Naruto have the Scroll of Seals.  _ Shikamaru’s eyes widened.  _ I forgot. I forgot about the Mizuki incident. _ He was broken out of his shock by the sound of Naruto’s voice.

“Y-you killed him.”

“Yes. He was about to kill both you and Iruka.”

Naruto grew angry, “Why are you so calm about this! You killed someone. Did you even need to? Why are you okay with this?”

“We are shinobi. You must accept that you will kill people someday, sooner or later,” Shikamaru walked over to Iruka, who was looking on in utter shock.  _ I long for the day when I was that naïve. You kill them or they kill the people you love. I won’t fail them again. _

“But why?”

“Think of it this way. If I hadn’t killed Mizuki, what would have happened to Iruka?” He began to look for bandages to stabilize Iruka’s condition.

The boy whom Shikamaru had seen die recoiled, but didn’t speak.  _ The dead do not speak. But he spoke.  _ He couldn’t find the bandages he was looking for, but Iruka was bleeding out. Shikamaru was in the process of ripping his own shirt to make bandages when he felt a burst of chakra. 

Immediately there was a kunai in his hand, scavenged off of Mizuki’s body. He saw a porcelain mask.  _ ANBU, of course. The scroll of seals was stolen and, well someone else must of noticed that the village’s jinchuriki had disappeared. _

An ANBU with a bear mask spoke, no, ordered, “Report.”

_ Iruka is immobilized, and Naruto is still a suspect. It falls to me. Don’t fail them.  _ “I was at the tail end of the graduation ceremony when I realized that Naruto had disappeared, so I went looking for him. I saw Mizuki over Iruka-sensei’s body, and… panicked. Needless to say the rest is history, and the traitor is dead.”

“That senbon is exactly in his pupil.”

“Yes sir. I am a good shot.”

Bear cocked his head, “Run me through your actions during the fight.”

“The traitor threw a shuriken at me, and the only weapon I had on me was a senbon. I threw it and rushed him. I broke his neck.”

“You will report this to the Council in three days time, as a witness to the events that occurred here.”

“Understood sir.”  _ If I can gather the information on Danzō before then, well, I can see the Council proceedings on the leaked information for myself, in person. Perfect. _

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please comment because that is the only thing in life that gives me validation.


	7. But the dead know not the sentiment of defeat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shikamaru is in for a nasty surprise , and a conspiracy is slowly but surely uncovered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mah boi is gonna get therapy!!! Sorry for the wack updating schedule, or lack of one, but school’s been stressful and my anxiety’s been acting up. Hopefully I’ll have at least one more chapter out this month, if not more. Happy reading!

The masked man grabbed Shikamaru’s arm and Shunshined them both away. Just as he was being teleported, he saw a glimpse of Naruto in Iruka’s arms with a worn hitai-ate around his forehead. He smiled to himself. _At the very least, Naruto is still a Shinobi._

Bear and Shikamaru landed in a drab, grey concrete room with a chair in the middle. _T &I. Shit. If I’m lucky they won’t bring Inoichi, if they do, I’m dead. I can’t fail them. Not again._

Bear shifted awkwardly, and spoke. “This is only a temporary formality. All you need to do is tell Ibiki, or whoever else comes in, what you told me. Then you are free to leave.”

“Yes sir.”

Bear disappeared in a silent swirl of leaves and smoke. Shikamaru looked around him. The grey walls loomed, oppressive by design. A cage with a locked door. Said door creaked open as Ibiki walked into the room, shiny scars glinting faintly in the light. _He died protecting the children._

“Now, Nara. Tell me what happened tonight.”

Shikamaru sighed, and recounted his tale once more. Ibiki had apparently deemed his report sufficiently informative, and walked to the door. He turned back to Shikamaru.

“Your father will be coming to collect you shortly, as he has the clearance to be in this area.”

The door shut with a thud as Ibiki exited the room. Shikamaru made himself comfortable in the chair. _How will tou-san react to this? If he gets suspicious and starts investigating before my report to the council… well, that would be troublesome. Speaking of troublesome, proving the activities of ROOT to the council will be rough. If I fail, I’ll be failing them. Don’t fail them, not again. If you fail, you are a liability. They have seals on their tongues. They won’t speak, but paperwork will._

The door opened once more, revealing Shikamaru's father, Shikaku. He looked… troubled, and ran towards Shikamaru. Before Shikamaru could react, his father swept him into a hug. He flinched at the unexpected contact, but leaned into the warmth that was his father, who looked even more worried than before. _I can pass that off as a result of the attack. Stay calm. Don’t fail them._

“Hey, tou-san.”

His father’s dark eyes pinned him in place, “I came as soon as I heard what happened. You did well, neutralizing the traitor and protecting your comrades,” Shikaku smiled softly, “I am so proud of you, son, even under these circumstances.”

Shikamaru’s eyes started to well up with tears, despite himself. He hugged his father tighter, and buried his face into Shikaku’s chest. He whispered through his tears, “Thank you.”

When his father finally pulled away from the embrace, Shikamaru’s tears had died down. _I guess I really needed that._ He was startled out of his musings when Shikaku spoke once more, “Starting next month, you will start going to a mandatory therapy session once a week for at least two months.”

His eyes widened and his breathing quickened. _See, you’re a liability. Even they know. Liability. In.Out.In. Out._ Shikamaru blurted out, “Tou-san, I’m not a burden!”

Shikaku looked at him resolutely, “I never said you were, and you never will be. Therapy is meant to help you. Anyone would need therapy after that, with it being your first kill. You are not a burden.”

“But-,”

His father cut him off, “No ‘buts’, you are a dedicated and strong Shinobi who is not a burden. However, you need therapy, your reaction to me telling you to go just cements that.”

He sighed, giving in. “Yes, tou-san.”

Shikaku went over to the door and held it open, “Now son, shall we?” 

“Yes, I would very much like that.”

They walked home in silence, and ate dinner the same way. After Shikamaru ate, he headed up to his room to formulate a plan for dealing with Danzō. _Poor Sai. He never had a childhood, and his adulthood was cut short prematurely. His blood covered my hands like ink. You failed him. He won’t wake up. In. Out. In. His body wasn’t burned. Porcelain cracks in his eye. A puppet once more. In. Out. In. Out. Breathe. You are in your room. You are safe. Nobody is dead._

_Objective: Bring down Danzō. First, I have to find the proxy operative codes and find the correlations between when they were entered and when the children disappeared. Then, I have to scour the black-ops section of the archive. I know where the keys and traps are, and the guard movements. After all, I have guarded that archive before. I can’t just remove the documents, I’ll have to make duplicates using cloning seals. They don’t have to last more than three days. If I’m lucky the documents I find will be incriminating enough. If not, well… I’ll have to get my hands dirty._

Shikamaru reached to the loose floorboard and pried it loose, revealing the sealed scrolls inside. He unsealed one with a smear of blood, and added two more changes to the timeline in the scroll. _Mizuki killed. Danzō revealed._

_He promptly resealed the scroll, repositioned the floorboard, and began to prepare himself for the night ahead of him, dressing himself in dark browns to blend in with the wood of the archive walls. He gathered his weapons, serial numbers scratched off and buffed until it was like they never existed. His younger self had done this before he came back, so when he became a genin, his enemies wouldn’t know where his kunai came from._

He gathered his chakra, carefully balanced it, and created a clone. Shikamaru whispered, “Lay in bed and sleep. I’ll dispel you when I get back.” He silently Shunshined away to the archives.

Shikamaru clamped down on his chakra immediately as he ducked behind the wall of a building facing the back of the archive. He saw a flicker of bone white. _Good. The guards are changing shifts. Another guard won’t be here for about half a minute._ He darted forward and into the building. Climbing staircase after staircase, he ascended through the levels of the archive until he got the seemingly unguarded entrance to the black-ops section. 

Shikamaru drew a seal on the floor in front of him, and a shimmering circle in the barrier surrounding the entrance was created. He then walked over to a part of the wooden wall, and pressed against it, revealing a key. Shikamaru took it and gingerly stepped through the hole in the barrier, and unlocked the door behind it. _I have five hours. First, the ANBU files_. He made his way towards the filing cabinet covered in seals, and laid one more over it. The seal he put on it promptly disappeared and the cabinet unlocked and opened. 

For half an hour he made his way through the operative files, picking out the ones with the same proxy code. By the time he finished, there was a stack over a foot tall of files near his feet. _Fuck. That’s a lot of brainwashed, kidnapped children._ He used a copying seal, and put the fakes back where they belonged. _These will last about a week._ He sealed the authentic files into a storage scroll, then closed the cabinet. It glowed a faint blue, and locked itself.

Shikamaru began the trying task of making his way through thousands of classified mission reports to check for Danzō’s involvement. After he got almost all the way through, he found a file. When Shikamaru read through it, he nearly dropped it. _Oh Kami. I feel sick. The eyes are missing. The roots of the tree are rotten. In.Out._

It was titled Operation Phoenix. It was dated to the night of the Uchiha Massacre. The operative was 012110. Itachi Uchiha. The target list was an inch thick, with the only Uchiha being exempted from the execution being Uchiha Sasuke, _at his brother’s request._ The handler was Danzō. The Sandaime’s council forced the Hokage’s hand. Eyes were missing from the bodies. _Itachi was under orders, and Danzō kept Sasuke as a hostage. I’ll have to look deeper, and find the ROOT archives. But one thing’s for certain. Danzō must die for his crimes._

Shikamaru made a copy of the document, put it back in its place, and stowed it away. He fled into the night, with the shadows clinging to him. _I have to share this with someone. This is bigger than one person, this could topple the entire government of Konoha. After all, the roots of the tree are rotten._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, your comments and positive feedback are what power me to write, and even just a short comment makes my day!
> 
> Shikamaru, pointing to therapy: Is me needing this me just being a burden?


	8. The meaning of things, and how they differ

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoo buddy was I in a philosophical mood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thanks to Pidgepodge99, who added Carnival of the Dead to her fic collection ‘Fics that keep me up at night’. I legit cried when I got the email request.

_ The villagers in the outer towns are starving. Gaunt faces and exposed ribs. They tended to crops, once. Now, they only see grain in their dreams. Fire will destroy many things if you aim it correctly. Madara’s aim was impeccable. Their source of food had burned.  _

_ Once upon a time, when the Land of Fire had Shinobi to spare, their fields would have been rebuilt from the ashes. But this, this is not a fairy tale. I can’t breathe. The ashes coat my lungs, and yet the village still survives. People are starving, and yet, the civilians believe they are safe, going about their days without a care. _

_ I don’t understand why they are so ignorant, with their decadence, having seen neither the starving faces of those close to death, nor the porcelain faces of the dead, who are not as dead as they should be. The roots choking the village, and the porcelain that comes after.  _

_ It’s always porcelain, and it means a great many things, depending on what you know. Porcelain means the faces of the ANBU to those who have not been to the front lines, however, porcelain means dead comrades whose bodies were not destroyed, to those who have seen the front lines. To a select few, porcelain means children long lost, children stolen away at night, ink fresh on their bleeding tongues. _

_ They bleed red, of course. Red has many meanings too. To the civilians, it is simply a pretty color, and is expensive to produce. To shinobi, red means blood. To the people who once inhabited the village of Guanyin, red is the miasma in the air that they died to, burning flesh, even if you weren’t touching it. If you survived the burns, you started coughing up blood, stark red against the skin, clashing with the miasma in air. They had less than an hour to think about this, they all succumbed to the corruption in the end. Red stained their lips, their face, their clothes, the air around them, poisoning the water.  _

_ To a boy with black hair, black eyes, and a blackening heart, red means pinwheels. Spinning, turning, warping reality, time and time again. Over and over. Red eyes, red hands. A red betrayal. Something isn’t right. They died painlessly. They kneeled. They apologized. Why? He killed them. Why did they let him? What were they apologizing for? Questions soaked in blood. The last time he asked these questions, he only got silence.  _

_ This time? The papers do not lie. He has not read them, but he might, someday. And when that day comes, he will read between the lines. After all, this was a hostage situation. The hostage does not know it, and he may never know. But the universe has tilted on its axis just enough for the possibility to exist, the possibility that the truth will come to light, no matter how stained with red, it is the truth. _

_ To another boy, this one with a seal on his chest caging a star-born power, bond with sacrifice, red means his teacher bleeding out in front of him, a grisly truth exposed before him. Red eyes follow him in his nightmares, flashes of red tails out of the corner of his eye. A red rage threatens to swallow him whole, leaving nothing behind. The warden who does not know who he is guarding. _

_ An old man looks at his arm, and sees red. Red, to him, is power. He holds this power in his arm, a power sought after for years. He didn’t think of the red staining the soil, the porcelain masks covering small faces, and a stack of papers, hidden away in the archives. He did not see the destruction he had wrought. He only cared about power. And power he got. But everything has a cost. He will pay, not with death, but with something far worse, and far more difficult to comprehend. But the dead with be appeased. The Shinigami will be satisfied. And the living shall fulfill their duties. There is blood in the water. _

_ Shikamaru wades through a sea of fire and ash without care. Amaterasu herself protects him, but her protection is not enough. Shikamaru knows none of this, none of the forces at play. He simply walks, through the fires of war, through the shadows of unbeing, walking the thin line between ignorance and madness. Most are ignorant of what lies behind the veil, some have gone mad from what they’ve seen, and Shikamaru is none of them. He has a vague understanding of what lies behind, but he has not gone mad. After all, the shadows protect their own. _

Shikamaru startles awake, documents lying around him. _ Shit. _ He springs into action, sealing them with his own blood. Red on white. He hides them under the floorboards, and breathes in deeply.  _ I don’t remember coming back, but if tou-san saw me… that’s an issue. But I have other things to deal with right now. Bigger things. Much bigger. _

“Shikamaru! Time to go to the academy!”

“Yes, kaa-san!”

He rushed out the door, hitai-ate around his neck, protecting his jugular, without saying so much as a goodbye.

Shikamaru ran to the Academy, paying no heed to the porclean masks that followed him. He got to the door of the classroom, then froze.  _ Today is team assignment day. In. Out. Ino, Chouji, Asuma. I failed them all. I can’t fail them again. I have to protect them. In. Out. In.Out. All porclean. Cracks in the skin, puppets following a master. In. Out. _

He opened the door, and the first thing he saw was Naruto staring him in the eye, hitai-ate proudly displayed.

“Hello, Naruto. How’d you get your hitai-ate? I thought you failed the test?”

Naruto looked at his toes, and mumbled, “Iruka gave it to me after what happened last night. Thought I performed well. I sure don’t think so.”

Shikamaru was about to respond, when Sakura spoke up, “What happened last night anyways? I know I saw at  _ least  _ five jounin going into the Academy forest after the ceremony. What kind of prank did you pull that got you in  _ that  _ much trouble?”

Naruto’s face went blank. “It wasn’t a prank. I’m not going to say anything else.”

“Seriously? Too ashamed to say what happened? I bet Sasuke would have never gotten caught like that! Just say it, it’s not like you haven’t gotten caught before.”

Shikamaru spoke up, sensing how unnerved the blond boy still was from the events from the night before, “Naruto didn’t pull a botched prank, and he’ll tell you what happened when he’s ready, if that ever even happens.”

Before anyone could respond, the door opened, revealing Iruka in a wheelchair. “Hello class!”

Ino shouted, “Iruka-sensei, what happened?”

“I am not at liberty to tell you the events that caused my injuries, but I can assure you that the wheelchair is very much temporary.”

Sakura raised her hand, “What happened with Naruto last night?”

He sighed, “I won’t tell you without Naruto’s consent. Just know that he is now a Genin, and has earned his hitai-ate just as you have. Now, it is time for team assignments!”

Naruto looked marginally happier at that, but he was still gloomier than his former self.  _ What if I have already altered his personality? What if he isn’t the same person he once was? In. Out. _

Shikamaru was knocked out of his musings by the sound of Iruka’s voice, “... and on team 10: Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Chōji. Your jounin sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma.”

_ Asuma. Cracked porcelain eyes. Blood stained soil. I saw him die twice. I killed him once. Don’t fail him a third time. Don’t be a liability to your team. In. Out. In. Ino. She was head of T&I, but she died protecting the children. In. Out. Chōji. His father killed him. He couldn’t fight him, not after what he’d seen. In. Out. You can’t fail them, if you fail them again, you are worthless. Do not fail them. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, as your comments fuel me to do chapters faster (and always make my day!)


	9. The dead are not as dead as they should be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shikamaru sees team 10 together again. Ohhhh buddy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating often, but there should be more updates coming soon!

Shikamaru sat, frozen, unwilling to break, unwilling to give the act away.  _ Do not fail them. _ Ino began to complain, “Ugh! Seriously, you put me with those two?”

He drowned her out. One by one, teams of genin left the room. He didn’t recognize a single one.  _ Dead. Civilian-born shinobi wasted, used as cannon fodder, perhaps. Washed out of the shinobi corps, killed on their first mission, whisked off into the hungry maw of ROOT. _

The door opened once more, and a man walked in. It was Azuma. Shikamaru stared, not at Azuma, but at the ghost of who his Sensei once was.  _ Snap out of it.  _ Azuma spoke to his new pupils, “Follow me.”

Ino and Chouji both replied with a chime of, “Yes sensei!”, and Shikamaru joined in.

They walked for a few minutes to an open field, and Azuma gestured for them to get closer, “Now that we are in a more private space, why don’t we get started on introductions! Say your name, three things that you like, three things that you dislike, and your goal. Then, do that for the other two members of your team. Who wants to start?”

Ino piped up, “I will! My name is Yamanaka Ino, all of you should already know that. My three favorite things are flowers, poisons, and learning new jutsu from my father. Three things that I hate, well… I guess I hate lazy people, when my flowers die, and having to deal with annoying customers at the flower shop. My goal is to make my father proud by being the best kunoichi ever!”

_ In. Out. She had always loved those poisons of hers, but they didn’t work on the dead. Cracked porcelain. She learned that far too late. I should have warned her, I failed her. I failed them. In. Out. _

Azuma chuckled, “Well that’s an amazing goal to have. Who’s next?”

Chouji spoke through a mouthful of chips, “Okay, my name is Akimichi Chouji, and my three favorite things are eating, cooking, and working the family forge. I dislike people who call me fat, when my friends get hurt, and spoiled food. My goal is to live up to my family’s name. That’s all.”

_ He had worn his armor, even after he died. In. Out. In. Out. Couldn’t cremate the body. In. Out. _

“And you Shikamaru?”

_ Asuma. Hidan killed him. In. Out. He didn’t know about the circle. In. Out. I avenged him. I failed him. I failed him. I couldn’t save him. In. Out. He came back, cracked porcelain face. Burning crops, burning fields, burning people. I failed him. You won’t fail him again. In. Out. In. Out.— _ “ Shikamaru?”

Shikamaru quickly responded, pasting on a smile,“ Sorry sensei, just spaced out a bit. So, my name is Nara Shikamaru, I like clouds, naps, and scrolls. I don’t particularly like troublesome people, traitors, and the color red.”

Asuma asked, “And your goal?”

The smile on his face turned genuine, “I want to protect the people I love.”

“That’s a great goal.”

“What about you sensei! You haven’t introduced yourself yet!” Ino interjected.

Asuma laughed, “I suppose I haven’t. My name is Sarutobi Azuma, I enjoy sparring with friends, traveling, and woodworking. I don’t like politics, paperwork, and asparagus. My goal is to defend Konoha to my fullest extent. Now that introductions are over, let’s get down to business. I hate to say this, but you aren’t fully genin yet.”

Ino began to shout, “What? But we already took the test and graduated!

“We all know that that test is mainly to weed out those who aren’t serious about being shinobi. Each jounin sensei has their own personal test which they administer to their new team. Now, my test will be taking place tomorrow at training ground ten, eight o’clock sharp. Be prepared for anything. Before that, I want to get to know all of you a bit better, so once we finish this meeting, just this once, I will treat you all to a lunch at Yakiniku Q. Any questions?”

“What’s the test on?” Chouji inquired, in between bites of chips.

Asuma smirked, “Sorry, classified.”

Ino groaned. Loudly. “Are you going to tell us  _ anything _ ?”

“Nope.”

Shikamaru smiled. _ Typical team ten, Asuma being cryptic and the rest of us being completely lost. _

“Shikamaru? Do you have any questions? Your teammates had quite a few.” 

He looked up at Asuma, “Questions are troublesome.”

Asuma replied, “Fair. Shall we go grab some lunch now?”

Chouji and Ino cheered, and with that, they walked back from the field and into the heart of Konoha. It was midday, and street vendors under colorful cloth tents beckoned him with takoyaki and dango. Shikamaru abstained, as he knew that there was better food to come. Everything was bright, and for the first time in a long time, Shikamaru felt happy. He was surrounded by his loved ones laughing and eating without a care in the world.  _ This. This is what I’m fighting for.  _

After he had said his goodbyes to his team, he made his way home.  _ How do I come up with enough evidence to take down ROOT? I have the official documents from the archives, but not Danzō’s unsanctioned ones. I know where a ROOT base is. I’ll have to infiltrate that, and see what I can find.  _

Before Shikamaru knew it, he was at the door to the compound. He slid the door open, and was immediately bombarded with questions from his parents. He started to inch out of the room.

“So, who’s your sensei?” His father asked.

“Sarutobi Asuma. Do you know him?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. He’s troublesome, but he’s a good shinobi. You are lucky to have him as your sensei.”

_ As if you hadn’t already known about the arrangement.  _ “I’m suppose. But right now, I’m headed out to go cloud watching, after I drop some stuff off here. Today has been tiring and troublesome.”

His mother responded, “Okay sweetie, just be back before dinner!”

“I will.”  _ As long as I don’t get caught. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, leave a comment! Comments fuel me to write more!


	10. The price of your greed is your son and your daughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shikamaru finds much more than he expected and accidentally gets involved in the ever changing spiderweb of Konoha politics. He has no clue what he has started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quarantine took the will to write out of me for about a month and a half, but now I’m super motivated to write, so this chapter is a beefy one! Also, updates are going to be more common now that I have a set schedule and more motivation (think 2 or more chapters a month), but no promises!

Shikamaru ran up the stairs to his room as fast as he could without arousing suspicion from his parents. He threw his bag down on his bed, and then shut the door, locking it. Kneeling on the floor, he pried up the floor board where he had stashed the storage scroll full of documents. Shikamaru grabbed a blank scroll, an ink pot, and a brush off his desk.  _ This scroll has to be perfect. _

He slit his finger on a kunai, allowing seven drops of crimson to bleed into and infuse with the jet black ink. Once the ink was fully mixed, it had a strange, almost otherworldly sheen to it. Dipping the brush into the ink, Shikamaru began to paint precise, flowing lines, evoking power with each brushstroke. 

After a few minutes passed, he finished the seal, carefully rolled it up, and put it in his pack along with the other storage scroll and some explosive tags. He opened up the window, and dropped the bag into a bush. Closing the window, he went to his desk and grabbed another set of kunai in addition to the set he had on him.  _ Better safe than sorry.  _

He made his way out of the compound, and looped back around to grab his pack. Checking to make sure everything was still there and that the storage scrolls weren’t damaged by the drop, he hoisted the bag over his shoulder, and Shunshined off in a flurry of leaves.

Shikamaru appeared on the top of the Hokage Mountain near a door concealed by genjutsu.  _ This is it.  _ Breaking the illusion, he snuck past the two masked guards in the entrance of the base, and began to make his way to the heart of the underground compound.

Silent as a shadow, Shikamaru dropped into a room filled with shelves of scrolls that reached to the ceiling and black cabinets filled to the brim with what he assumed were papers.  _ Shit. I’m going to have to sort through all of this, aren’t I. _ Upon closer examination, the black cabinets weren’t actually black at all, just covered in layers upon layers of seals. 

_ I have nowhere near the knowledge of seal work needed to even attempt to breach those, let alone to do it without setting off any alarms. Funny, they’re even more secure than the black-ops section of the archives. I bet the archivists would be quite offended if I even insinuated that their precious archive was anything short of impenetrable. The scrolls are probably my only option here. Here’s to hoping that they’re not as heavily warded as the cabinets. _

He approached the wall of scrolls and carefully scrutinized it for possible defenses. _ Troublesome. Same damn seals as the cabinet. I’m already failing them again.  _ Shikamaru began to cautiously pick his way back out of the musty room. At the end of the room were two imposing metal doors. The one on the left was the one he had snuck in through, while the one on the right led to the unknown depths of the complex. He resisted the urge to groan.  _ The exit or the mysterious door. Splendid. _

He opened the door, and came face to face with a blank porcelain mask. Shikamaru went for his weapon, but the masked figure did nothing. Jamming a kunai against the person’s jugular, he realized something.  _ They’re the same height as me. That’s a child. There’s a child beneath that porcelain mask. _ Distantly, he heard the clatter of metal against the dull concrete floor, and looked at his now empty hands. His kunai lay in the ground.  _ I can’t kill a kid. _

The hands of the masked child moved, but not to attack. To surrender. From behind the mask, they asked in a soft, scared voice, “Are you here to save us?”

“Yes, yes I am. What’s your name?”

“My designation is Operative 67.”

Shikamaru’s heart sunk. “Do you have a name? Not a designation, but a name?” He replied in a deceptively calm voice.

The kid looked down at the concrete and whispered, “We aren’t supposed to have names.” His heart sunk even further

“Kid, everyone deserves a name. Do you have one, or do you want me to help you come up with one?”

The person behind the mask looked at him, then spoke, “Sai, that’s what my brother calls me. You have to free him too! They say he’s gonna be decommissioned ‘cause his lungs don’t work right!” 

Shikamaru’s throat closed up.  _ Sai. Oh gods, it’s Sai. I failed him. I can’t, not again. Not while I have this chance. _ He looked at Sai and asked firmly, “Who else needs saving? I’ll get them all out if you can show me where they are, but I don’t have access to Danzō’s documents. If I can’t get those, and none of you can’t speak about him, you guys won’t be able to stay in Konoha. He can find you too easily here.”

Sai cocked his head to the side and whispered, “Documents? You mean all of the scrolls and papers? Only instructors touch those! There’s an instructor, Operative 102, but she’s told us to call her Robin. She said that she’d get us out of here if she could, but since she has a black tongue, like me, she can’t speak about him either, and she says that  _ that man _ would find us if we tried to tattle on  _ him _ to the H’kage.”

Shikamaru’s eyes brightened, “Thank you Sai. You are very brave, and soon you and your friends will be free. Could you take me to Robin and your friends?”

“Yes!” Sai exclaimed, and before Shikamaru could react, rushed over to him and hugged him tight. Voice muffled, Sai let out a small sob and a whisper of thanks.Then, Sai took Shikamaru’s hand and pulled him towards a dark hallway lit only by cold, fluorescent lights. It was lined with doors of grey metal and the wall were constructed of the same bleak concrete as the floor from the room before. Sai went over to a door on the far end of the hallway, opening it and beckoning Shikamaru forward.

They stepped through the doorway, and as Shikamaru’s vision began to adapt to the darkness, he realized that this was Robin’s room. While he was busy looking around, Sai went over to a cot in the far corner of the barren room where someone was sleeping. Sai tapped the figure on the shoulder. A brunette woman with scars crisscrossing her face jolted out of the cot, and was in the process of readying her senbon when a spark of recognition flitted across her face

“Sai?” She hissed, “What are you doing out of the barracks? You could get in big trouble for this,” She looked over Sai’s head at Shikamaru, “And who are  _ you _ ?”

Shikamaru held her gaze steadily, “My name is Shikamaru, and Sai tells me that you want to free his… friends.”

Robin looked at Sai in alarm, “Do you want to get me killed kid?  _ He _ doesn’t like traitors.”

Shikamaru replied before Sai could speak, “I’m here to help, and if you can help me get some documents, then all of you can live in Konoha without fear.”

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, “Is that a threat?”

_ I can’t fail them, all of them. _ “No. Even if you can’t get the documents, I’ll still help. But, if Danzō isn’t taken down, or at least revealed for the traitor he is, then none of you are safe in Konoha. You would have to leave the village.”

Robin’s gaze softened, “You can say  _ his _ name. I can get you the documents you need, as long as you promise me, as Amaterasu looks down upon us, that the kids will be safe. That is all I ask of you.”

“And it will be done. Now, Sai seems to be getting impatient, so, how about you get the documents, and Sai and I will round up the rest of the children. We cannot fail them, so don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

Robin nodded, “Sounds like a plan. I have the key seals needed to release the defenses around the documents, but I’ve never gone through the more classified section, so it may take some time to find the incriminating documents.”

“Honestly, at this point, you are already much closer to getting the documents than I ever was. Do you know of any key seal to release the seal on your tongue?”

She shook her head and replied, “Even if I knew, I wouldn’t be able to speak about it.”

_ Troublesome. Sometime I’ll have to deal with those, but I’m no seal master, and the people who know about the seals can’t, or won’t talk. _ He sighed, “Sai, could you show me where your friends are?” 

Sai grasped Shikamaru’s hand once more, and led him out the door. Robin promptly disappeared in a cloud of smoke, as if she was never there. A mirage.Sai stopped in front of yet another metal door, the floor beneath it worn. He opened it silently and crept inside, gesturing for Shikamaru to follow.

“Guys, wake up!” Sai called out. Twenty children of varying ages awoke, some quicker than others. A boy, no older than ten, responded to his call, confused, “Sai? What’s wrong? Why did you wake us all up?”

“Shin! We’re gonna be free, and him and Robin are helping us.”

The other boy, who Shikamaru now knew was named Shin, responded with a fragile, quiet joy, “Really? We’re gonna be free?” 

“Yes, but we have to hurry. Gather your belongings, and then we can go,” Shikamaru interjected.

Another child spoke, this time a girl with vibrant red hair, “Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

In an instant, the gathered children ran over to their bunks, rummaging around for what meager things they owned. After a few minutes, they gathered back around Shikamaru, weapons pouches grasped by chubby hands marked with scars. They all had put on masks.  _ It’s always porcelain on the faces of the dead, and on the living who deal in death. Sai was one of the first to fall, burning and burning and burning, sent on a patrol he never returned from. Red in cracked porcelain. You can’t fail, not now. Not like how you failed all of them. _

Shikamaru shook himself out of his head.  _ Now is not the time for troublesome thoughts. _ “I would recommend that none of you wear those masks outside. They are rather… attention grabbing.”

Sai spoke, sounding confused, “But, aren’t we not allowed to take our masks off outside?”

Shikamaru kept his face placid so as to not scare the children, “You are  _ always _ allowed to be outside without a mask. You don’t have to hide your face, not with me.”

“Really?”

“Of course, you don’t have to wear your mask outside or take any missions unless you want to.”

Sai lifted the blank swath of porcelain off his face, and the other children began to follow suit, some putting them with their belongings, and others leaving them on the ground in shards, destroying what had once been their face. Sai had a beaming smile, and Shikamaru remembered. 

_ He had the same smile on his face when we all went out to barbecue, before. It was the first time he had been to a restaurant, not for an assasination or other mission, but just to eat with friends.  _

_ He had smiled, wide and genuine, just for a moment, before it all went blank again. Blank porcelain till the end. Blank porcelain faces, cracked porcelain, the dead marching to a rhythm none knew, the flames burning, the pounding of a thousand feet to the beat of war, an unnamed melody. I failed them, their faces cracked. I failed to protect them, I didn’t burn the bodies, couldn’t find the bodies. I did this, their blood is on my hands. _

“Mister, are you okay?” A boy with black hair and blue eyes asked. 

Shikamaru blinked, “Don’t worry, just some troublesome… memories,” He changed the topic, “Anyways, everyone got their things? Robin should be finished right about now, so we better get going, okay?”

“We’re all ready,” Shin announced, eyes glowing with excitement.

Right after he spoke, Robin burst into the room carrying a veritable mountain of scrolls and papers.“I got the documents, but we need to  _ go _ . The next guard rotation is coming up, and when they change shifts they check on the documents  _ and _ the kids. Either way, they’re going to notice that something is missing.”

Shikamaru’s face tightened, “We’ll head to the Nara forest. Since I’ll be with you, the wards will let all of us in. Once we’re in, I’ll guide you to the family shrine. Stay there while I speak with my father about getting all of you a place to stay, but you have to make sure to stay inside the boundaries of the shrine until I get back.”

And with that, Shikamaru headed to the door, the former ROOT shinobi following suit. As they made their way to the exit, he heard Robin whisper a prayer under her breath, “May Amaterasu guide our steps, Takemikazuchi guide our blades, and may the Shinigami guide our souls to peace.”

_ This is it. Failure is not an option and they are all relying on me. _ They made a strange site, twenty one children with only one guardian. Robin opened the door to the outside world and was met by two guards, two porcelain masks as blank as their wearers’ minds. 

Before they could react, Shikamaru and Robin moved to incapacitate them, Shikamaru jabbing a senbon in one man’s neck while Robin bashed the other over the head with the pommel of her kunai. They crumpled to the floor like dolls, puppets being cut from their strings.  _ We’ll have to be far from here when they find the bodies. _

The group trekked through the giant Hashirama trees surrounding the Hokage Mountain, traveling as fast as they could without leaving any of the little ones behind. Slowly, Hashirama trees turned to a mix of dark oak and maple trees. Very little light could penetrate the canopy of leaves, only the faintest glimmers of sunlight punctured through, creating speckles on the forest floor.

Shikamaru stopped, “We’re here. Stay where you are while I deal with the wards, they don’t take kindly to strangers.” He got a kunai out of his bag, careful not to damage the unused storage scroll inside. Grasping the handle of the weapon, he carefully cut the back of his hand, crimson running down his arm and staining the ground. 

The earth where the blood fell started to shimmer a faint violet. Then, the glow turned blue and faded, as if it had never been there at all. The blood was gone. Shikamaru strolled through the wards with confidence. Tentatively, one of the older ROOT members moved to go through the barrier, but Robin stopped her, “I go first.”

She walked through the wards, and once she was over, beckoned the others to follow suit. They were finally safe from Danzō.

Shikamaru whispered to Robin, “We have to be swift, even though you are safe from Danzō inside the wards,” Robin flinched slightly at the name, “Once night falls, the forest is...unforgiving to outsiders. The shrine will protect you until I have found a more permanent place for all of you to stay. Here,” He began to rummage through his bag until he found a storage scroll, “Put the documents in the scroll, and I’ll take them to the compound proper.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, “Why?”

Shikamaru sighed, “I’m going to show these to my father. I know he must have suspicions about Danzō, but he doesn’t have the proof he needs to act. These,” He gestured to the papers and the scrolls, “are more than enough proof for him to investigate. Once he sees these, he can hide you in the compound. My father is the clan head, and as such he has significant political sway. He can take now Danzō with none of you being connected to it.”

Robin acquiesced, “ Okay. But swear to me he won’t sell us out. We’re taking enough of a risk as it is, going against  _ that man. _ ”

He replied without hesitation, “I swear it. If I break my oath, may Benzaiten herself strike me down.”

“Good.” 

Robin gingerly gave Shikamaru the documents. He carefully rolled out his storage scroll, placed the papers on top, and injected his chakra into the seal. The papers disappeared.  _ Like Kamui themself took them. Nobody truly knows what space the storage scrolls access. _

He spoke clearly, “Head two miles east. There you will find a clearing with a black onyx shrine in the middle. Go inside it and stay inside until I come back to get you. If night falls before you get to the shrine,  **run** .  **Do not** listen to the shadows, whatever they may say. Get to the shrine, understand?”

Robin, looking incredibly unnerved for someone who had worked in an unsanctioned paramilitary organization, replied, “Understood.”

Shikamaru shoved the scroll in his pack and began to run south, pumping chakra into his legs to make it to the compound faster.  _ I have to get back before sundown. If they don’t make it to the shrine, the forest will eat them alive. _

Just as Shikamaru felt that his legs were going to fall off, he stopped at a large grey stone wall, the setting sun giving it a slightly golden hue. He vaulted over the wall without hesitation and made a beeline for the main house, ignoring the stares from his fellow clan members. Throwing open the sliding doors of his home, Shikamaru yanked off his shoes and sprinted to his father’s study.

“Dad!”

Shikaku responded, chuckling, “ What is it that got you so worked up? I thought we taught you not to run in the house.”

Shikamaru’s face was grave, “Dad, I need to talk to you in your office. It’s important. I need you to activate the privacy seals for it. Please, Dad.”

He looked down at Shikamaru, suspicious, “How do you know about those? I’ve never told you anything about them.”

_ Troublesome. _ “Please, Dad. I can explain later, but this is really time sensitive!”

Shikamaru’s father opened the door to his study without another word, no longer smiling, and let Shikamaru in. He closed the door, and the seals activated with a low, electric hum. Shikaku walked over to the windows, closed the blinds, then turned to Shikamaru, “Now son, tell me, what is so important that you felt that you required privacy seals to speak to me?” His voice was low, but it didn’t have the lazy tone hit normally possessed.

_ Good. He’s taking it seriously. _ Shikamaru reached into his bag and brought out the two scrolls, the one with the documents Robin handed over and the other with the documents from the archives, “I found something big,” he tapped on the nearest scroll, “This scroll contains documents from the top of the archives.”

Shikaku opened his mouth to interrupt him, angry, but Shikamaru continued, “Before you lecture me on operations security, hear me out. I had...suspicions about the Uchiha Massacre. After all, in the official statement released by the Hokage, he said that Itachi Uchiha had simply snapped and killed his entire family except for his little brother.

Shikaku interrupted, “Yes, that’s what Hiruzen said,but what’s suspicious about that? Itachi even told Sasuke his motives and he had the skills to kill them all in the manner that he did.”

“True. However, there were multiple discrepancies I noticed in the reports available to the general public. It was indicated that before the massacre occurred, Itachi didn’t exhibit the mental issues that would have caused him to kill them all as he did. His teammates, two of which had active sharingan, did  _ not _ report any irregularities in his behavior. Hell, he even had a psychological evaluation with a  _ Yamanaka _ two days before it happened.”

His father raised an eyebrow, “There were rumors—“

Shikamaru quirked his lips, “That he killed Shisui Uchiha? The cousin whom he adored, and was one of the fastest shinobi alive? His body and eyes were never recovered. What use does Itachi have for those eyes? After all, his sharingan were fully evolved.”

He cleared his throat, then continued on, “ Another thing that bothered me was that there was no mention about how the Uchiha corpses were dealt with. Many had active sharingan and according to Uchiha tradition, their eyes are to be cremated. There was no mention of cremations being undertaken, even though most Uchiha have it stated in their wills. Also, why were  **all** of the Uchiha in the compound at that time? Most adult Uchiha are active shinobi, and I know for a fact that more than a few of them are long term infiltration experts.”

Shikaku sighed, “It makes sense, but do you understand the  **magnitude** of what you’ve done? You’re barely even a Genin. You should not be able to sneak into the archives period.”

“Dad, I’ll explain later, and you can invite Inoichi along for the explanation, I know I’ve been acting… troublesome, but this is more important,” Shikamaru gestured to the second storage scroll, “The documents in this scroll were recovered from a secret compound inside the Hokage Mountain. I found more things inside the compound than just these documents, but you need to have the context provided by these documents to get the full picture.”

“A secret compound? Are you sure that wasn’t just a military project sanctioned by the Hokage? And either way, we are going to have a  **talk** about this later, as I’m sure you already understand.”

“I’m sure that the compound was unsanctioned. While I was rummaging around the archives, I found two worrisome pieces of information. I checked the ANBU files while looking for Itachi’s profile, and I noticed that for a not insignificant portion of the files, instead of an actual sponsor, there was just a code that leads you around in circles of paperwork until you find a deadend. 

After I exfiltrated the files, I did some research. Each of the operatives inducted into the Corp using the proxy code were inducted into ANBU exactly two months after a child in Konoha was reported missing. Exactly two months.”

Shikaku’s face was pale like porcelain, “How young?”

Shikamaru sighed, “Depends on the child, but they ranged from two to thirteen years of age. I found a small fraction of the missing children inside the compound, with blank porcelain masks and seals on their tongues.”

His father’s face paled even further, “ Children doing ANBU missions. Unsanctioned and found in a hidden compound. Did you follow up on your original investigation of the massacre?”

Shikamaru nodded, “Yes. It’s connected to the missing children, but don’t just listen to me, read it for yourself.”

He unsealed the storage scroll and picked through the documents until he found the Operation Phoenix mission report, and handed the thick report to his father. The red seal of the Hokage’s office blazed against the white paper, denoting it for the Hokage’s eyes only. 

Shikaku accepted the paper with only a moment’s hesitation, and began to read. After a minute of scanning the documents, Shikamaru’s father looked him in the eye, a truly horrified look on his face.

Shikaku looked back down at the incriminating papers in his hands, “How… how did you even figure this out? This happened right under my nose, the execution of an  **entire clan** ? All of the clans have held some form of grievance against the administration, so  **who’s next** ? The Aburame, or maybe the Inuzuka, the Hyuuga, the Yamanaka?  **Us** ?”

“I can’t tell you right now about how I figured this all out, but once I tell you everything about what I found, and we go retrieve some people, then we can talk. I promise I’ll tell you everything… just, this is more important. From what I’ve found, Danzō set up the Uchiha clan and gave Itachi the order, but the Hokage and the rest of his advisory council signed off on it as well.”

Shikamaru took a deep breath, and continued, “The eyes are missing. The children I found could only refer to Danzō as ‘that man’ or some other euphemism, but never his name. They couldn’t physically say it. I don’t know exactly what’s in the documents from the compound, but it’s nothing good.”

Shikaku, rattled, asked Shikamaru, “Why don’t you know what’s in the documents?”

“I enlisted one of the ‘trainers’ from the compound who had attempted to escape with the children before, but realized it was not possible. She had a key seal for unlocking the documents, and she got them while I rounded up the children. I assisted them in their escape.”

His father looked at him in concern, “Surely, Danzō will have noticed their absence by now, are they in a safe place?”

Shikamaru winced, “At the moment, I believe so. I… sent them to the shrine in the forest, but that’s temporary. I wanted to ask if you would give them a safe place in the compound. I couldn’t come up with anything else.”

Shikaku’s eyes filled with an emotion that seemed to be a strange mix of pride and another emotion he couldn’t name, “You made the right choice son. I’ll have your mother prepare the spare rooms in the main house for them. I think she’ll like to have more people in this empty house, don’t you think? I’ll come with you to retrieve them from the shrine. 

Ensui can take care of any wandering spirits that happen to come our way. After that, we can have that chat you promised me, and I’ll speak with the other clan heads. We had our suspicions about Danzō, but this is beyond anything we could have imagined. You’ve done so well and I’m proud of you for bringing this to me.”

For the second time since Shikamaru got sent back in time, Shikaku hugged him tight, and for the second time, Shikamaru lets himself cry.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment, even if it’s just an emoji! It really makes my day whenever I see your comments, and honestly, I need all the positivity I can get these days!


	11. Interlude - We are not saints, but seekers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are changing quicker than Shikamaru can see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Actually updating quickly? A miracle. But seriously, updates are gonna be faster and longer now that I’ve sorta got my life together!

Operative 801 ran. Robin’s friend told her to run, so she did. Robin ran, Sai ran, Shin ran, everybody ran. The trees were strange, different from the tall trees that surrounded the compound. Their leaves blanketed the sky, and for the first time in a long time, 801 felt scared.  _ Am I gonna die here? Even after everything I’ve tried,  _ **_that man_ ** _ has always found me. _

In her moment of fear, 801 tripped, tangling her red hair in the bushes that lined the forest floor, garnet against emerald.  _ They’re gonna leave me here, aren’t they. They have to finish the mission. I’m just a deadweight. _

Like a miracle, Robin stopped, they all stopped. Just for her. Just for them to help 801 up. As she was given a helping hand, she didn’t feel like a number anymore. For the first time in a long time, she felt truly… free. But something nudged at the back of her brain, something primal, foreboding, a warning.  _ Something is going to happen soon. Something is wrong. _

__________________________________________________________

  
  


Shin looked out through the windows of the shrine. He wished he hadn’t.  _ Oh, dear Amaterasu.  _ Swaddled in the trees, in the indigo night, was a figure standing still. Too still.  _ Something is wrong.  _ All that he could see of the figure’s features was a straw, conical hat and two glowing eyes.

He went over to where Sai was sleeping, either to warn him or protect him, Shin wasn’t entirely sure, but when he glanced back to get a better look at what was in the forest, the figure was gone.  _ Something is wrong. _

He laid down on the stone floor of the shrine, but he couldn’t sleep.  _ Someone is watching us. _ He stood up to scan the area, unnerved. 

There were three figures in the woods now. Two were the same as the last figure he saw, but the thing in between them was different. Its body was cloaked in flowing lines of ink, set against an unnaturally white robe. A strand of large prayer beads with eyes carved into them hung around its neck. One of the cravings blinked. 

Shin could not see the figure’s face, as it was obstructed by a porcelain mask of a snarling oni. Maybe the mask was its face. Shin felt scared, a deep-seated primal fear. As he sat there, all he could do was let the smell of incense waft over his nose. He blinked. They were gone.  _ This is not a dream. _

__________________________________________________________

  
  


Sasuke stared at Naruto.  _ Something is different about him. He’s been… quiet today. The blind idiot failed his graduation test, everybody knew he would. But, somehow, he’s here. And he isn’t talking about it.  _

His train of thought was derailed by Sakura, “Hey Sasuke-kun! Since you’re really smart and all that, I wanted to ask you something.”

“What.” Sasuke asked flatly.

Sakura lowered her voice to a whisper, “Do you know what happened to Naruto last night? I was pretty sure he pulled a big prank, with the amount of shinobi running around, but he  _ and _ lazy Shikamaru said that wasn’t what happened. Iruka-sensei wouldn’t say anything either!”

Sasuke looked at her, interest now piqued, “I don’t know, but I’m sure there’s not an official way that idiot could graduate without retaking the exam, and that only happens once a year. Also, Mizuki-sensei wasn’t at team assignments, you know anything about that? I know for a fact that, if nothing else, you’re a good gossip.”

Sakura’s cheeks blushed, despite the underhanded insult, “No clue. Ino-pig has no idea, and her dad tells her  _ all _ the good gossip.”

He grunted reluctantly, “Well, if you find anything useful, keep me in the loop.”

“Thank you Sasuke-kun!”

“Don’t get too excited. All I need you for is information.” He looked back at Naruto, who was staring at the floor, unmoving. He wasn’t smiling.  _ Something is wrong. _

__________________________________________________________

  
  


Naruto just wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep. After what had happened with Mizuki, everything felt different. 

_ Shikamaru just grabbed and twisted, then it was over. Why was everybody in class except for Shikamaru just talking and chatting like nothing was wrong? All I wanted to do was graduate and eventually become the next Hokage, now Mizuki is dead, Iruka-sensei is in a wheelchair because of me, and I’m a monster.  _

Naruto chanced a glance over to where Sasuke and Sakura were sitting and whispering to each other.  _ Something is wrong.  _ He strained his ears in an attempt to eavesdrop on their conversation. He could make out much, just snippets, but he heard enough.

“Iruka-sensei wouldn’t say anything—”

“—Mizuki-sensei wasn’t at team assignments—”

_ They’re both talking about me behind my back. Sakura was talking behind my back, and she’s not a jerk like Sasuke. _ Naruto felt a stab of hurt grow in his stomach. He wanted to cry. Someone walked through the door.

__________________________________________________________

  
  


Sakura was uneasy. Everything felt the slightest bit off kilter. For some reason, Naruto had gotten a hitai-ate even though he failed the graduation exam.  _ It makes no sense. Why would he be getting his hitai-ate now? Everybody knows he’s taken, and failed, the exams multiple times before. Why is this time different? Sasuke-kun didn’t know anything, and anyone who knows anything about what happened hasn’t blabbed!  _ Her eye twitched.

_ Nobody tells me anything. Also, to top everything off, our sensei isn’t even here yet! I bet Ino-pig’s sensei is teaching her all sorts of cool jutsu while I’m stuck here! _

Sakura heard the door open, twisting a bit to get a better view of the intruder, a thin shinobi with bone-white hair and a hitai-ate covering his right eye. She instinctively started examining his chakra. Sakura felt a whisper of something odd in the man’s chakra. Her heart turned to ice.  _ Whatever is under that headband is  _ **_not his_ ** _. Something is wrong. _

She was shaken out of her stupor by the sound of the shinobi’s voice.

“I assume this is Team Seven?”

Sakura stuttered out, “Yes.” The boys did the same.

The man smiled, “My name is Hatake Kakashi, your new jounin sensei. Now, why don’t we move to someplace nicer for introductions. The roof seems nice, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Sensei! You’re late, three hours late as a matter of fact!” Sakura exclaimed.

Her sensei looked her dead in the eye, “Maa, I don’t care. Meet me on the roof.” Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke without another word. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke all stared at one another, speechless. Sakura stood up and made her way to the door, and the boys promptly followed suit.

__________________________________________________________

  
  


Kakashi examined his students-to-be as they burst out the door to the rooftop. Sasuke and Sakura looked unsettled by something, but he had no clue what that something was. 

Naruto seemed sad.  _ No, that’s not it. It’s something else, something almost… contemplative. From what I’ve heard from his teacher, he’s normally high energy and constantly loud. What happened between yesterday and today? When Inoichi gives me the team files, I’ll see if they mention anything, just to be safe.  _

_ He might just be having a bad day but… better to check. Looks like his teammates picked up on it too. Huh. They’re more observant than I thought. _

He shook himself out of his thoughts, “Now that you are all finally here, let’s introduce ourselves. Tell me your name, things that you like, things that you hate, your dreams for the future, and any hobbies you have. Should I go first, or do any of you want to volunteer?”

To his surprise, Sakura, after looking at both of her teammates, raised her hand and began to introduce herself, “My name is Haruno Sakura, I like baking with my mom, the library, and Sasuke-kun,” at this, she blushed, then continued, “I dislike Ino and secrets. My dream is…” his student seemed to deliberate for a second, “... to be the best teammate I can! My hobbies are baking and reading.”

_ Okay, a little bit less of a fan girl than what I heard from her sensei, but otherwise pretty predictable.  _ Kakashi smiled under his mask, “Good job Sakura! Who wants to go next?”

Sasuke and Naruto stared at each other, each practically daring the other to go first, but in the end, Sasuke relented. “My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like training and tomatoes. I dislike fangirls. My goal is to get justice for my clan and kill a certain man. My hobbies,” at this, Sasuke faltered, “My hobbies are shurikenjutsu and calligraphy. My cousin… Shisui taught me.”

_ Something’s clearly changed. I don’t think anything happened to either Sasuke or Sakura, but something happened to Naruto, which in turn could have impacted his teammates. Here’s to hoping that Naruto’s file has some explanation, or else something is wrong.  _ He refocused his attention to his blond student. The boy looked at the ground, then stared Kakashi directly in the eye. 

“My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I like Iruka-sensei and ramen. I  **hate** traitors, and my dream is to protect my friends from dying. I guess my hobby is pranking, but I’ve never really thought about any of this, so I might be wrong.” Naruto tried to crack a smile, but it didn’t convince anybody on the rooftop.

Something about the way he introduced himself made Kakashi’s heart fill with dread.  _ Something is wrong. Something big happened, and now, I have to teach him, teach them all without fucking them up further. Something is wrong. _

__________________________________________________________

  
  


Shikaku stared down at his palms and bit back the urge to scream.  _ How could I have ignored this. What happened to Shikamaru that made him do  _ **_this_ ** _? I know for a fact that the seals guarding the archives are at least S-rank, but there is the possibility that either that someone sabotaged them, or Shikamaru had a key seal. Even then… Shikamaru is technically not even a Genin.  _

_ He should not have been able to do what he did. A pre-Genin waltzing into the archives on a mere  _ **_suspicion_ ** _? Something is wrong. _ He pushed musings about his son out of his mind.  _ Right now, my only concern should be getting the information to Inoichi. That’s all that matters right now. _

Shikaku grabbed the two storage scrolls on his desk and hid them in a heavily sealed compartment of his desk. He pulled out another scroll, this one meant for secure messages, wrote down a series of numbers and letters on it, and put it carefully in his vest pocket. 

Shikaku opened up the blinds and gazed into the forest. The spirits looked back at him, glowing eyes and untold secrets. A kitsune stepped onto the window sill.  _ It seems the spirits want an audience with me. Something is wrong. _ The fox spirit dropped three berries of a variety Shikaku did not know, and disappeared in a flash of dark foxfire.  _ In three days time. _ He chuckled to himself.  _ It’s not like I have a choice. Something is wrong. _

__________________________________________________________

  
  


Azuma leaned back in his chair and scanned the room. His fellow jounin sensei sat beside him, facing Inoichi, who had a stack of files in his hands. 

Inoichi cleared his throat, “These are the files on your future students. You have already met them, and as such should inform me if there are any discrepancies between your encounter with them and their file. There are a lot of clan kids graduating this year, so if the files are a bit too positive about them, that is to be expected. Yesterday, there was an incident after the graduation ceremony involving two students and two academy sensei. The general public along with most of our shinobi forces have not been notified, however your students may have been affected subconsciously. The incident report has been included along with your team files.”

At that, Inoichi passed out the stacks of files. Hatake’s pile was noticeably thicker than the others. Asuma looked down at his own stack of papers and began to read. Chouji’s file held no surprises, as did Ino’s. However, when Azuma got to Shikamaru’s file, he noticed it was larger than the others.

_ That’s strange. All of the kids seemed pretty normal when I met them, for Clan kids anyways, and apparently in the Academy they stuck together like glue. For only Shikamaru to have gotten into trouble… something is wrong. _ He carefully opened the file, and after a moment of reading frantically picked up the last file, the one on the graduation day incident. He read through the file, occasionally glancing back at Shikamaru’s student file.

By the end of it, Azuma’s face was pale. _ No wonder the kid seemed the slightest bit off. He saw one of his sensei bleeding out over his friend, and the other he killed with a  _ **_senbon_ ** _ to the  _ **_eye_ ** _ and a snap of his neck. Any kid would be at least a little fucked up after that.  _

He glanced around the room, and saw Hatake’s face to be pale as well. Their eyes met. They weren’t friends, only acquaintances, but still, a look of understanding flashed between them. After a second, the moment was broken and Azuma went over to Inoichi to talk about Shikamaru. 

Before either man could say a word, the Jonin Commander, Nara Shikaku, opened the door to the secure meeting room looking, to put it lightly, disturbed.  _ Something is wrong. _ He marched over to Inoichi and said, “We need to talk.” 

Inoichi raised an eyebrow, “What’s got you so anxious? Can’t you tell I’m in the middle of the Genin team briefings?”

Nara spoke again, voice conveying a message of urgency,“ I can’t tell you, not here. But,” he pulled out a scroll from his vest pocket.  _ I recognize that. That’s for super high clearance messages. Something is wrong. _

The Jonin Commander continued, “This scroll has a meeting time on it. Be discrete.”

Then, as quickly as he came, Nara disappeared in a spiral of leaves. Now, everybody in the room looked pale.  _ Whatever made the Jonin Commander look like  _ **_that_ ** _ is not good. _ His hands were shaking, all the while, the innocent stack of files sat accusingly in his grasp.  _ Something is wrong. _

__________________________________________________________

  
  


He who calls forth the hunt listened to the kitsune’s message.  _ The man of the blessed clan has agreed to a meeting. Good. The court of the Unnamed must speak with him. Things have been altered, and Kamui and Amaterasu have been silent. Something has changed. Something has warped around the progeny of the man of the blessed clan. Something is wrong. Kamui, Amaterasu, and the Unnamed being have their plans, and the court shall be their ears. _

__________________________________________________________

  
  


Something is wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, please comment! They make my entire week and empower me to write more chapters!


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